The infamous story of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang has been brought to life on stage in this truly scrumptious new production. The story follows Caractacus Potts, who under the persuasion of his children purchases an old banger which he restores to a miraculous flying car, aptly named Chitty. Baron Bomburst of Vulgaria then plots to steal the beloved car, and in a case of mistaken identity kidnaps Grandpa Potts! Caractacus and his children fly to Vulgaria, the land of no children, which see’s his children encounter danger but with a cleverly crafted plan, they save the day!
Having loved the film growing up, we were delighted to finally get a chance to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang performed live on stage. This show featured some of the best special effects, props and set we’ve ever seen from a touring production. The set was never tedious, there was always something new to see, consisting of a variety of backdrops, full set pieces and lighting which set the mood superbly. One of our favourite set pieces had to be the doll on a music box scene which saw a full sized music box with rotating table. This combined with the phenomenal performance from Ellie Nunn was exceptional to watch.
The cast were all outstanding at bringing their characters to life, with some of the best acting, singing and dancing we’ve seen. The Vulgarian spies, Boris and Goran, really stole the show for us with the iconic duo providing lots of witty and genuine laugh out loud moments. The dance scenes were energetic and really brought the fun factor to the stage, in particular “The Old Bamboo” and “The Bombie Samba” were amongst our favourites. The costumes were beautiful and complemented the performance very well, which were authentic to the time period of Chitty. We particularly loved the costumes in the fairground scene.
The score remained largely the same to the original movie with some welcome additions including “Act English” and “The Bombie Samba” which complemented the original songs very well. We love that the score remained largely the same to the original movie. The songs were performed impeccably by the band and performers on stage.
Chitty was the second star of the show. The cars transformation from a rusty old banger to a flying marvel was nothing short of magical. When the car took to flight, a tear came to our eyes and jaws dropped. We never thought we’d feel emotion for an inanimate car! The attention to detail and design of the car is phenomenal, one of the best props we’ve seen in a stage musical. Getting to sit in the car whilst it’s flying is now on our bucket lists!
We were completely in awe at so many points during Chitty Chitty Bang bang. This show is the highlight to our musical shows we’ve seen this year, and we’d highly recommend seeing it.
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